How ThedaCare’s $100M Neenah hospital modernization will impact the entire northeast Wisconsin region

NEENAH ― ThedaCare’s $100 million investment won’t impact just Neenah.

The entire northeast Wisconsin area stands to benefit from the recent modernization of ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah as the health care facility serves as an anchor hospital for the region.

President of Froedtert ThedaCare Health, Dr. Imran Andrabi, expressed the view during the Jan. 18 open house celebrating the completion of the hospital’s $100 million upgrade.

“The Neenah community, obviously, benefits a lot from this particular hospital, but as an anchor hospital for our region, it really touches 650,000 people," said Andrabi. "So anywhere anybody who has a need that potentially we can provide, we bring them over here.

“So you can have a stroke in Shawano, we can give you the initial measures to take care of that and then we bring you here," Andrabi added. "We take you to the Cath lab, take the clot out and next day, you’re home. Imagine that.”

He added: “Same thing with trauma. We have five critical access hospitals, and now you add the orthopedics, spine and pain hospital, you add Fond du Lac and Oshkosh to it, we have a lot of communities around us that need us to do this work.”

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The hospital's upgrade has resulted in an expanded emergency department.

Initially started in January 2022, the hospital’s massive upgrade has resulted in an expanded emergency department with more specialized rooms for trauma and behavioral health.

The facility also added a second helipad adjacent to the emergency department while enhancing the care provided at the region’s only comprehensive stroke center.

And the hospital will now employ in-house physicians for the obstetrical emergency department and labor deliveries.

Some of the other additions include:

• Updated operating rooms with robotic surgical equipment.
• Updated Theda Clark Peters Family Birth Center.
• Rebuilt in-patient behavioral health space with 19 private patient rooms and relaxation and exercise spaces.
• An Obstetrical Emergency Department and Hospitalist Program in the birth center to provide more hospital-based women's services. The program will start in February.
• A new Graduate Medical Education program that offers residencies and fellowships to those who finished medical school. It will be the first hospital in northeast Wisconsin to offer such a program outside of Milwaukee and Madison after accreditation for the program is completed.
• A new physical and occupational therapy suite.
• New space for the Women's Center.
• A retail pharmacy of the hospital that will be open 24 hours, seven days a week.
• A remodeled first floor with easier access to outpatient testing.
• A new dining area.

“We have tried really hard to continue to be a population health organization and what that really means is get to know your communities, get to understand what their needs and wants are, and to meet them there,” explained Andrabi.

“[When] we opened our orthopedics, spine and pain center, that was a response to the community, making sure that we had everything under one roof easily accessible; the hospital, the rehab, the physicians, the surgery.

“Even the positioning of the helipad, having a Level II trauma center, having a comprehensive stroke center, having a 24-7 in-house physician available for moms to deliver, having a behavioral health in-patient department are huge deals, not only for our community in Neenah, but for the entire region,” he added.

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ThedaCare Foundation-Neenah contributed $40 million through donors and the release of existing assets

The ThedaCare Foundation-Neenah contributed $40 million to this modernization project.

Donors within the community raised $15 million of philanthropic support while the foundation released another $25 million from existing assets.

Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com.